


Plan

by Ziba



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: F/M, Touken, Tousaki, i'm weak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 13:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6196393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ziba/pseuds/Ziba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Touka discovered just how hard it was to stick to the plan</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Little story, that can be considered either an AU or a Missing Moment, your pick, about on of my favourite ships in TG.  
> It's really self-indulgent.   
> I tried to stay as in-character as possible, but if you could tell me your thoughts, it would be awesome!  
> Thank you for reading!

Haise Sasaki had made an habit of working at :re.

He kept reunions with the other Qs there, and he also went through paperwork sitting at one of the tables, if what he was working on wasn’t too classified. 

Sure, the place was often noisy, but there was something comforting in that place. The smell of coffee, the sound of dishes, the chattering of costumers brought him some inner peace. And, if he ends is work early and doesn’t want to head home quite yet, he can always read a good book. There are a lot that, while reading, he realizes he had already read, but there were also some that were completely new to him. 

And if that domestic and familiar atmosphere wasn’t enough to keep him returning there, he had also developed a crush of sort on the coffeeshop’s manager.

He tried to not make too much of a fool out of him around her, but such a feat was as successful as trying to have Saiko eat her vegetables. He also seemed unable to making horrible puns in a pathetic attempt to make her laugh.

She did laugh, sometimes, but it almost never reached her eyes. There was a part of him , his more insecure side, that told him that it was because she just laughed just to make him happy, not because she actually found him funny. But there was also another part of him, more observant, that had observed that it had nothing to with him. An aura of melanchony sorrounded her everytime he had seen her.

That day he had been working on the last papers for the next big operation. He was under a lot of stress, both because of work, and because the more he went on, the more the demons of his past seemed to be catching up with him. Haise couldn’t say it out loud, but deep inside he knew that sooner or later he’d have to face them.

But in the meantime, he had been enjoying his coffee, glancing from time to time to the manager. As creepy as it might sound, he liked watching her work. She carried herself with confidence, whether she was taking an order from a table or she was doing some maths with the incomes. It was something that enchanted him, for confidence was something that he chronically lacked.

He was following her with his sight, adjusting his glasses on his nose. She went to the wall, and turned on the lights. As the lights flickered brightly, he realized that he was probably past the closing hour. Haise took a look at his watch, and yes, he was definitely past the closing hour.

He got up abruptly, noticing, also, that he was the last costumer.

-I’m sorry, miss Yomo, I’ll get going.- he blabbed, starting to put together all the paper he had spread all over the table. She approached him, smiling politely.

-Don’t worry, I didn’t mean to shoo you, I just wanted to give you a better light.- she answered, taking in her hands the cold cup of coffee.

He scratched the back of his head, smiling back.-I suppose I lost track of time.-

She tilted her head, and pointed with her hand to the papers.-Lot of work?-

-You could say that.- he sighed, one hand through his hair.-I had better days.- I think.

-You want to talk about that?- she asked, with genuine concern. He took a step back, blushing.

-No, I don’t want to annoy you with my whining, I’m sorry, I’ll pay the coffee and…- he moved to take his documents, but the manager put her free arm between him and the papers.

-The coffee is on the house, and is not like I have something better to do. I’m making some more coffee.- she went to the counter, starting the preparation.

He sat down, rubbing his hands together. His head started to fill up with many different thoughts. He was afraid that he was being a nuisance, that she was acting out of pity, that he might ruin that moment, or that the situation could have get an unexpected but not unpleasant turn.

She sat down, gave him his coffee, and started sipping hers. They both took it black. Well, Haise had no other way to drink it, but it was still a pleasant coincidence.

They started talking. They started with work, both complaining about it but in the end satisfied by it. He told her about his kids ( “Kids?” she had asked, “Well, I do consider them my kids”, he had answered), and she told him about her older brother, Renji. They chatted about books, about how Haise liked them and how Touka (they even started calling each other by name, to Sasaki’s delight) had gotten a liking for them, and that it had took a while before she had started enjoying reading. He discovered that beside managing the coffee, she was also a top student in Kamii, department of biology. He realized that she was a nice, fun person, a bit bossy, maybe, but that determination was just a plus to her character.

Their phones rang in unison, stopping them during an heated discussion about who-knows-what. They checked them. He had different textes from the Qs. Mutsuki’s were worried, Saiko’s were hungry and Shirazu’s were… well, Shirazu-y. She had different lost phones from her brother, to which she answered.

-Look like we both stayed too much.- she said, arranging a lock of hair behind her hair. He looked at her for a moment amazed by that movement. He shook himself out of it.

-Yeah, seems like it Toukas too long to get going.- he resorted to the lamest puns in the story of lames puns. He hoped she didn’t notice.

She noticed.-That’s awful, and you better not be proud of that line.- she joked, helping him get ready. He did notice her amused grin. He had heard a lot of her laughter, but it was never enough.

She accompanied him to the door, and there they stood. He didn’t really wanted to leave, and she didn’t want to push him out, so they just stood there, trying to find something to say. Touka did first.

-You need an hand with all that stuff?- she looked at his shoulder bag, from where bits of papers came out. He also had his suitcase, but it was on the ground. He tried to tell her that no, he was fine, but she took a step forward, and fixed his tie, without thinking. He blushed at her firm and yet gentle fingers’ touch. She murmured an “there, now’s better”, and then look at him with a satisfied little smile.

Without thinking, he cupped her face, and brushed his lips against hers. She freezed in his hands. He never kissed anyone (at least, that he knew of), so partially because of inexperience, partially because he didn’t want to press her, partially because he didn’t really know what he was doing, he didn’t go any further, and started to push away.

As he pushed away, she leant forward. There was another another ghostly brush of lips, he felt her hands on his chest. She pressed her forehead to his, and breathed his breath.

She then pushed away.

-I…- he started, his face on fire, but she stopped him, with a sad little smile.

-I’m sorry, that was really inappropriate of me. Your “kids” are waiting for you, so you probably should go.- her tone was polite and detached.

-Did I do something wrong? I mean, I surely did, I apolohize, I didn’t meant to- he babbled. 

-No!- she almost shouted, but then she recollected herself.-It’s not your fault it’s just… complicated.-

-How is…- he realized that she was probably already with someone else. A woman like her surely already had someone else. -I understand.- he muttered, even though he didn’t really understand. He just wanted to leave.

-I’m sorry. I hope I’ll still see you around.-

He faked a chuckle, rubbing his chin.-Don’t worry, it’s alright.- He took with that same hand the suitcase. And bid her goodbye.-Of course you’ll see me around, your coffee is the best around here!- and with that lame line, he almost run out of the coffee shop.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Kane… Haise had disappeared, Touka slammed her head against the corner of the door. She then moaned in pain.

What fool she was. Giving Tsukiyama that lecture about letting him leave his life, and then putting up that show. Not only she had talked with him on a personal level, not only she had let him (and she blushed even more just thinking about this) kiss her, but she had kissed him back.

That couldn’t happen. Whatever had been about to happen there, it couldn’t have happened. She had planned to let him live his life, a lie of life, but at least one where he could have some sort of happiness, lifted by the weight of his life. Entering in his life would have changed that. Even staying as friends would have. She could have said something, done something, that would have jeopardized his serenity. Hell, he might have discovered that she was a ghoul, and how would have that ended? And even if he didn’t, she’d have to lie to him about her nature and their history together, that she knew some of his twenty years of life. 

She thought of all of this, as she enjoyed his warmth just a little longer. She hadn’t realized that her feelings went over friendship until her lips had burned because of that light touch. It had took that to understand that while she loved him as a friend, as family, it was also something else.

She closed the lights of the shop.

That was the last time that Touka saw him, until one day, turning the tv on, she had seen him there, pitch black hair on pitch black clothes, dark bags under his tired eyes, an astonished expression on his face as he watched a short, green-haired woman announce to the world:

“I’m a ghoul”


End file.
